Reforming Russia?

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

I first encountered Elena Gagarina, Yuri Gagarin’s elder daughter on discovering that she was and remains the director of the Kremlin Museum. Later, my wife would develop a friendship that endures to this day. Elena's father was the famous Soviet cosmonaut and she grew up in "Star City" the closed city where Russian space explorers lived and trained. Elena remembers when her dad became a worldwide celebrity as the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok (восток means "east") spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961. Yuri Gagarin died during a training mission in 1968. He was 34.



Today there is a town bearing his name, Gagarin (Гагарин). Formerly called Gzhatsk (Гжатск), in 1968 the town was renamed Gagarin in honor of the first cosmonaut who was born in 1934 in the nearby village of Klushino. Gagarin is near Smolensk (150 miles) and just a 90 minute electric train ride from Moscow. In March's presidential election Vladimir Putin won 59% of the vote in Gagarin.


 

So a small group of budding protest leaders met at Moscow's Belorussky Rail Station for the trip out to Gagarin. Minister of Parliament and opposition activist Ilya Ponomarev took them in a (train) car and the group began the ride to Gagarin by handing out flyers to train riders. Upon arriving in Gagarin the group gathered at a park and then began to knock on apartment and house doors in the immediate neighborhood. It was reported that one old babushka (grandmother) was agitated at first but upon learning what the group was doing was said to have exclaimed, ""We must all work together - radicals and liberals - to build a new system! You are young, you are our Russia! "



Participants said that during the afternoon local police stood by but made no attempts to disturb the event. Locals residents seemed pleased to learn more about the opposition they'd watched on television and accepted flyers graciously, many beginning to read and ask questions while standing at their apartment entrances. Some seemed pleased to learn that the Russian protesters are not simply lackey's on the payroll of the US State Department.

In summation, Gagarin citizens listened and at the end of the day opposition members are calling their latest effort the "All-Russian campaign" to bring their message to smaller towns and communities all over Russia.
             
             

[Anotherkiwi]

Watch this camera set up BY THE GOVERNMENT at just one polling station then let's reconsider the notion of Putin's numbers being undisputed. 

That is hilarious!  But...the numbers are obviously correct - it's just that 40 million voters cast 200 million votes! 

[noelscot]

Some other articles that are food for thought.




In Robert Kaplan's The Coming Anarchy, he has an article, "Was Democracy Just a Moment?"


http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/12/was-democracy-just-a-moment/6022/


 An article on Putin's policies for dealing with Islam:


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/IB21Ag01.html


Articles arguing for him to be US president:


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JH13Ag01.html


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JA08Ag01.html


Another article about Putin:


http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/IG03Aa03.html

[mendeleyev]

Boethius (Calmissile and others), thanks for the kind words. The truth is however that Chivo and I are both above that little spat. Chivo is indeed entitled to his opinion whether I like it or not so Chivo I apologize for being hasty and harsh.

[erikmagenta]

From what I have read here, which is the entire thread, it's very obvious that Mr. M. is the true objective (as in not favoring a slant to one side or the other) authority on what is going on right now.  The evidence he compiled in post after post shows the truth vividly and acurately.  Kudos!!

[chivo]

Fair enough. You just didn't say "in my opinion" before. Everyone is entitled to have one and I respect that.

 
Last month my frequent flier statements listed just over 50,000 miles and a typical month is between 40-60k. That included a trip from Moscow to Mexico (reporting) and a trip to Washington/Virginia (reporting). I and an additional person cover Eastern Europe, primarily based from Moscow. So you may also find me in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, one of the other former republics, or any number of Russian cities. That number of miles pissed me off btw because I was scheduled for some down time at a place we purchased a few years back along the Black Sea in Bulgaria and while my wife is understanding, she wanted me to get some rest in as well.

Do I know Moscow? Enough to drive myself from an office to check on either of two apartments rented although I try to drive as little as possible in Moscow. Ever collected rent from someone (a guy) two months behind in Moscow? I have. Enough to get home to a Moscow suburban dacha/house we purchased/renovated/expanded. Enough to ride the Metro with my eyes closed (I find myself napping on the Metro like many others). Enough to get inside the Kremlin even on days it is closed. Enough to describe in vivid detail the Grand Kremlin Palace, or anywhere inside the Kremlin. We could include Administrative Bldg #14, Terem Palace, the Faceted Chamber, something many Russians never get to experience, or show you around Patriarch's Pond. Enough to give a guided tour of the Duma building, Red Square and to know what Novo-Ogaryovo or Gorki look like inside.

How about you: ever flown an Ilyushin 96 with the letters "PU" at the end of the tail sign? I formerly had an office inside Radio Mayak years ago in the days when the CCCP was becoming the Russian Federation. These days I keep an office near Metro Kozhukhovskaya but don't give an exact address publicly for security reasons.

We could continue this silly game of "my dick is bigger than yours" if you'd like. I have more.

Over the course of time on this and other fora many Russians have questioned information you have posted on this and that. Simple things, much less more contrversial things such as the protests. Most of these Russians, mostly women aren't around anymore to post.
 
 This isn't a matter of who's dick is bigger, I questioned some of your facts. You chosed to whip out your dick. Americans will never questioned you, and really have no idea. I'm here and see things with my own two eyes. I know people, Russians, who are connected, and ask them. I have often said much of my information is from people whom I respect very much on their insight and experience. If I wanted to get into a pissing contest I could name drop myself on who I have met, but won't for other reasons that should be obvious.
 
You don't know my life here. You and this board has absolutely no idea whom I've met. I'm positive you would be surprised, and impressed. Some are very well connected, trust me on this. And they would agree with you, as I do, on many things. By the same token, they would disagree with some things as well.
 
Even I myself had to inform you on where the first Mcdonalds was opened in Russia and when terminal C at Sheremetyevo officially opened. Surely someone who flies here so often would have known this. And anyone can find info on Mcdonalds.   
 
I never said you have no history here, I simply asked how much time you spend here. I have seen posts where you have offered to meet people in Moscow for a beer, people who have no intention on coming, so you apparently have the time to do this in spite of what you've said about your busy schedule  Yet I'm continually surprised that you have turned down my offers (and we' have had very cordial interactions before this disagreement). I can understand your refusal now going forward though .

I'd have been so much more impressed had you included the positive things I wrote that Mr. Putin could do to satisfy the bulk of the majority when I wrote about the opposition being a form of checks and balances.

I have talked about it on a few occassions, just not on this particular thread. Thing is, no one on this board knows the real skinny about such things and it generates very little interests.
 
This board is much more interested in the psuedo world of Zon Zon than what is in Russia's best interests. You can see for yourself how much more play this thread has received since me and Belvis chimmed in and made it a bit contraversial.
 
Here's something I wrote that I dug up
 

Not that it’s heaven either, but it takes time for things so entrenched in a culture like Russia to change a mere 20 years removed from a Soviet nightmare.

 
My comment about Putin’s decision was more about stabilizing the situation, as in now there are no questions who will be the next President, not whether it will bring stability to the country. And although I disagree with your statement, neither of us knows for sure what will happen.
 
I also think Putin is not the same guy he was in 2000. He’s a better Politician, not just a former KGB Colonel. The biggest reason I think this is because of the economic crisis in 2008. At that time there was much concern about the country repeating what happen in 1998 when the country defaulted. Didn’t happen for many reasons, mainly a better understanding of long term prospects, financial planning (Kudrin was the architect of Russia’s reserve fund) and the understanding that if Russia continues to go about its business “old school” style that its competitive business edge would be basically non-existent in comparison to the West.


 
I spend a vast majority of my time in businesses around Moscow. I talk to lawyers, doctors, businessmen, economists (real ones not accountants), diplomats, students, etc. This is where I get much of my information about this country and what's going on inside of it now, not 10 years ago.
 
No one is saying that Russia doesn't have problems because it does. But, are you telling me England is in good shape now? Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain? Do you think a Russian has a better future outside his/her country without being transferred through their work? If you do then I strongly disagree with you. And no one is complaining about Sarkozhy, Merkel, Obama, Berlusconi or any other Head of State, yes? I mean they’re doing such a fantastic job.

 
Do young people in the USA see their future in bright lights? Stand outside any major University and ask the young people in America just how bright their future looks and see what your poll says. I’d be shocked if only 22% thought negatively about their future. The people who really want to leave this country now are people who haven’ travelled much out of Russia.
 
Couple of other things regarding this; firstly, Russians have, from their Soviet past, a more pessimistic view on things in general than people in the West which is why I’m not completely surprised by the polls and surveys you have posted. Secondly, while there are some young entrepreneurs who want to leave, the vast majority who I talk to about leaving are females (and it's still a small number comparatively speaking). Why? Not because they don’t like it here, have terrible lives or no opportunity for careers. It’s because they have very little opportunity for love and starting a family.
 
Lastly, many Russians romanticize about life outside of Russia, but this is changing too because as more of them travel, more of them realize that things aren’t exactly what they thought when t hey actualy saw things for themselves. One example is a business acquaintance who just returned from a 2 week stint in London and what he had to say about it. Before his trip he went on and on about going there, seeing this and that and how excited he was about his trip. Now he says you couldn’t pay him enough to leave Moscow for London. 
 
Again, stand outside any University in America and poll the young people there about anything from their future, Wall St, the Government, defense spending, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc. and see how those numbers reflect from four years ago.
 
I don’t take polls that seriously, yet I’m sure some young people in Russia would like to leave. I just saw a news report on the BBC suggesting that a huge number of young people want to leave Spain. Why? Not because it’s a bad country, on the contrary, have you been there? It’s a beautiful country with a rich culture, but there’s no work and unemployment is over 20%.

There are many reasons foreign and domestic capital leaves a country. And capital flight can take many forms. Would you consider outsourcing jobs to another country as one form of capital flight? I would. Yet America has done this to the tune of billions of dollars over the years at the expense of the American worker.
 
Movement in currency exchange rates is another reason why capital leaves a country and Russia has a fluctuating currency (it has gone from 33 to the dollar to 29 in less than a month recently, that’s over a 10% move for those keeping score). It is an emerging economy. Rich Russians can leverage their money elsewhere, especially in favorable currency fluctuations, invest in another country and then cash out and return the money back into the country when the exchange rate is more favorable and make money that way. Many Rich Russians do this. Happens all the time in many countries around the world. Fact is it would be misleading to look at capital flight in set terms because it takes on many forms within/without all countries. Not just from unstable governments, even though this is one important factor.
 
 
 
A big portion of the capital flight is also money sent to Europe by multinational companies to offset bad situations in concerning their repective companies.
Kundrin quit partly because he disagrees with some policies, most notably defense spending. The real underlying reason is that he was under the impression he would be the next Prime Minister of the country. He and Medvedev don’t exactly see eye to eye on things and there was a power struggle between the two and he lost, plain and simple. He was bitterly disappointed that Medvedev will be the new Prime Minister instead of him. And while well respected he is but one man. Ask ten economists about the future of the USA and believe me you’re likely to get ten different answers on what direction the economy should go.
 
I disagree with your assessment that foreign capital will not increase and relatively soon. Russia is looking more towards China and India for its future investments and less towards the West, although Western investment will always be a given and Europe represents almost half of all current trade in and out of Russia.
 

Mergers and acquisitions by Multinationals is as strong here as anywhere in the world. Pepsi just signed a contract for 1 billion dollars over the next 10 years with its takeover of Wimm-Bill-Dann, Total’s purchase of Novatek to expand its presence and Unilever just acquired Kalina a local cosmetic giant making Unilever the biggest cosmetic company in Russia, so I guess they seem comfortable with the business climate here. And that’s just to name a few of the many companies entering the market or expanding here.
 

Western companies continue to enter and/or expand their businesses. And many now have the ability to operate under “their” terms and have more control with how their money is spent and who’s pocket it goes into.

I’m not here to tell you Russia is the greatest place in the world. Far from it, but let’s not go overboard with the negativity either. To you and anyone who seem to want to compare this country to America, England, Canada, Europe, etc., get a grip. It’s not apples to apples. You cannot compare emerging economies to established ones, although many here on this board love to do it.

Russia has come out from under a Communist regime/mentality for only the last 20 years and the first 10 were utter chaos. The mentality has been changing over these years and continues to change. Unfortunately “old school” Soviet mentality is still alive and well, but it too is slowly dying off. And it might take another generation for things to really take root.

I see it happening before my eyes now. Russians refusing to pay bribes to get things done and I’m talking about influential Russians, young influential Russians. Foreign businesses are able to operate under their ‘roof’ and not a Russian ‘roof’.

Russia is a semi-autocratic country and Putin has to answer to others as well. He is not the all be, end all governance here although he obviously wields a lot of power. He is also more of a politician now than a KGB colonel. I think he has grown with the job so to speak, meaning he’s not the same guy he was 12 years ago. And he has done some good things over the last 10 years that go unnoticed or are overshadowed by the negative and/or his reputation.
For example;

From 2000 when he took over to 2008 Russia’s real GDP doubled. The percentage of the population with incomes below the subsistence level dropped from 28-30% to around 10-14% depending on whose findings you research. The life span of people (men and women) has increased from 65 to 69. In 2009 the birth rate exceeded the death rate for the first time in 20 years. Pensions although ridiculously low still managed to increase 12 fold from 521 to 6177 rubles.

Consumer credit has increased tremendously, industry grew 75%, and investments grew 125%. Real income doubled and the average salary increased 800%. Purchasing power for the average Russian increased 250% from 2000 to 2009. Russia has also accumulated the 3^rd largest gold reserves during this time (meaning in respect to the last 10 years not overall) and has managed to overcome the nightmare and recover much that was during the 90’s.

Putin as President also signed into law a flat tax on individual income of 13% down from 24%, unified social tax reforms of revenue and sales tax that reduced over all taxes at the time 70%. Rome wasn’t built in a day and there are things that need to improve obviously.

Russia needs to realize its vast agricultural potential to the world, especially Africa. Invest in its infrastructure, diversify its economy (which I think it’s beginning to understand and do), decrease the time it takes and lower the restrictions for new small business start-ups. Invest much more in medicine, education and technology and legalize its corruption like America has.
 
I also think part of the problem is Russia's reputation in the world. But, it comes from both sides meaning yes, in the past it was much deserved, but other countries need to 1) look in the mirror, and 2) move on from the past.
 

You were a part of this thread, yet also chose not to say anything else after I posted this. We can elaborate if you want. Because most of the majority aren't really asking for much.

 

[Boethius]

No, chivo, you didn't just question Mendy's facts.  You questioned how much time he spends in Russia, which, as I read it, was an attempt to discredit what he was posting.  He just sees the world differently than you, or your sources do.  Plurality is a better thing than a monolithic perspective, is it not?
 
I am certain if your "source" in Washington were Boehner, the information you would get would be very different from that if your source were Pelosi.  If your economist friend were Thomas Sowell, you would have a very different view of the US than if your friend were Paul Krugman.   If you lived in Texas, your view of what's good for America in all likelihood, would differ very much from what an American in D.C. or Vermont.  Why would you assume it would be any different anywhere else in the world?

[chivo]

So how exactly, is Russia more free than California?

I was just in california in March. I lived there for 35 years. It is a police state. You and anyone else can disopute this all you want, but you will never convince me otherwise.
 
The fact is I felt very restricted there during that month. And if you ask any visiting Russian about their time there, you hear many mention how many rules and laws there are.
 
California has many nice things about it. Great scenery, majestic mountains and beautiful beaches, and weather second to none. Which leads me to this...

You might wish to camp out at the airports and tell Russians all those things because California is a prime destination for Russians to visit and to live. Not quite like London, but very popular. All those Russian travelers could obviously use your insight.

Living in a place and visiting are two different things.
 
I know cali like the back of my hand, and yes they could benefit from ym time and experience living there. Nevertheless, it has absolutely nothing to do with police states or freedoms.

Ever heard of an organization called the "Ministry of the Interior?" They do give out that sort of information to media. Sometimes it's bogus and sometimes it is real, much like their system of counting how many people show up at an event. I'm surprised that you didn't bother cut and paste of the related piece where I wrote that most of those forces were called back prior to the rally.

I can't post on everything Whether you or anyone else wants to believe it, I work and have a life. On weekdays I get up at 6;30, leave my house at 7:30 and return around 9pm. You think I want to hammer out everything on this board? 
 
And as usual, people read and take things in different directions. I said your reports on some of the facts were incorrect. I stand by that. I didn't say all. Matter of fact I agree on some things you wrote.
 
I also firmly believe you are more anti Putin than not, and that's is fine. You have every right to be. Just saying.
 

Are you claiming that it was a fake photo?

Did the opposition somehow pay off the police to allow the child to pose?

Did evil Western reporters bribe the kid with free ice cream to ride his trike up to the line?

Are you so blind as to think that photo was something that happens every day?

Speaking of Tienanmen Square, it was YOU who mentioned that. I wrote nothing of the sort. I never once mentioned Tienanmen Square. Did that image (yes, it really happened) bring out something in YOUR subconscious mind about Tienanmen Square, Chivo?

Of course the photo is real. But the context and how you presented it was  much more dramatic than the reality of the situation (at least to any - average Russian who was there and not a journalist).
 
It hardly cause a blip to the vast majority of Russians, sorry. It didn't hear anyone mention it at all, no one. Therefore, my Tineanmin Square reference.

If I told you the truth, that it is unlikely the current situation will last six years, I could be detained much longer than 3 hours, or worse. If there are to be changes I hope they will be peaceful. However I am oh so mindful of Russian history, and the history of this great land has reserved no place for peaceful change.

Russians are awake. The days of settling for "stability" and security while letting the oligarchs and ruling class rape the country are coming to a close. I watched a babushka, she had to be close to 90 years old, berate an OMOH senior officer as if her frail fingers could render him and his battalion helpless in slow motion. What struck me was that she at one time must have been the perfect poster for the "stability" generation of the former CCCP. Not any longer and she was not alone.

In the days of May I witnessed some of the most dramatic confrontations one could imagine. The first was the simple act of a small boy who darted away from his parents who were part of the rally and rode his bicycle on training wheels up to a police line. I'm sure that at his age he was more curious than anything else, but it was one of those "you had to be there" moments.

That simple event, caught on the iphone camera of Julia Ioffe, Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker and Foreign Policy magazines, sent an image around the world of a child facing down Moscow riot police near the Kremlin gates.






IMO the protests outside the one on May 6th have been extermely peaceful. I have personally witness some protests myself and have seen what is going on. Some have been almost party like. My take is the media is overplaying the intensity of it. Sure people are fed up, they're fed up everywhere, not just Russia.
 
My point is, nothing happening here is worse than what's happening elsewhere. This is not an Arab spring, this is not what's happening in Italy, Spain, the Middle East, or even in America. Balance, yes, that's right.
 
Let's keep it real, and not go down the same road most Western journalist do. Again, ask any Russian what they think about they way Russia is portrayed by the west. You'll hear much of what Belvis and I say, which is most think is way over the top to the point of being laughable.
 

[Boethius]

 

It is a police state. You and anyone else can disopute this all you want, but you will never convince me otherwise.

That is a slap in the face of anyone who has actually lived in a police state.  The state of California does not tell you what you can write, what you can read, what you can say, where you want to live (beyond zoning restrictions), where you can go to school, whether or not you can leave the state, etc.

[chivo]

No, chivo, you didn't just question Mendy's facts.  You questioned how much time he spends in Russia, which, as I read it, was an attempt to discredit what he was posting.  He just sees the world differently than you, or your sources do.  Plurality is a better thing than a monolithic perspective, is it not?
 
I am certain if your "source" in Washington were Boehner, the information you would get would be very different from that if your source were Pelosi.  If your economist friend were Thomas Sowell, you would have a very different view of the US than if your friend were Paul Krugman.   If you lived in Texas, your view of what's good for America in all likelihood, would differ very much from what an American in D.C. or Vermont.  Why would you assume it would be any different anywhere else in the world?

Fair enough, yes I did question that because over time he has written things that are much different than I or other Russians see it. Things that if you were here for any extended time couldn't possibly see any other way.
 
If a person wants to tell me what I see with my own two eyes as wrong, then I have to question it. Wouldn't you agree?
 
I'm not done, I'm getting to you, don't worry. . I have other posts to deal with as well.
 
I have a lot of respect for what Mendy does here, he knows this, if not he should. But it's my opinion that he takes a very western journalistic view of this country. And maybe it's because he's a journalist and they have a, shall we say, rather dark relationship with the government here, that it is so. I understand that too.
 
read my post about some people letting go of that past and moving forward. Things are chaging here, the media needs to change as well.
 
And that Pelosi thing is just not relevent to my point. I get views from many different people, so it's not a one time or person thing.

[Boethius]

Read Shin Dong-hyuk's life story if you want to know about a current police state.  I posted it here -

http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=14731.msg299671#msg299671



Mendy may be a Western journalist, but he is one who has lived in Russia as long, perhaps longer, than you have.  I don't think he is saying you are wrong, you just have a different opinion. 


I disagree that there is only one way to see things (which I assume is your way? )  There just isn't.  For example, I disagree with about 80% of what my current government is doing, but 40% of the country disagrees with me.  I am fairly active politically, and have known, and know,  policy makers.  But it is not that I know the right people and they don't, or vice versa.  It is just different perspectives.

If you truly are getting different views, it is not coming across in your posts today.  There is no one "right" perspective or truth, to the exclusion of all others.

[chivo]

That is a slap in the face of anyone who has actually lived in a police state.  The state of California does not tell you what you can write, what you can read, what you can say, where you want to live (beyond zoning restrictions), where you can go to school, whether or not you can leave the state, etc.

Live there and tell me. No, not in your sense, but go live there and see how restricted you are by the police and the authorities. And how few rights you really have should the police decide to act. In this day and age, it shouldn''t be how it is as far as America goes..
 
I can't tell you how it feels to be there when I visit. Sure I have a good time because I have a good time no matter where I am. But, the police are way out of control there.
 
I've dealt with the police there on many an occasion, and sorry to disagree, but I couldn't disagree more.

[Belvis]

  He just sees the world differently than you, or your sources do.  Plurality is a better thing than a monolithic perspective, is it not?

I completely agree. Mendy's reportages highlight events I would not noticed otherwise. And yes, his photos are excellent. I was amused by responses where posters don't want to see different perspective

[Boethius]

I completely agree. Mendy's reportages highlight events I would not noticed otherwise. And yes, his photos are excellent. I was amused by responses where posters don't want to see different perspective

I think that's the minority.  I would hazard a guess Mendy enjoys the different perspectives.

[calmissile]

I was just in california in March. I lived there for 35 years. It is a police state. You and anyone else can disopute this all you want, but you will never convince me otherwise.
 
The fact is I felt very restricted there during that month. And if you ask any visiting Russian about their time there, you hear many mention how many rules and laws there are.  
California has many nice things about it. Great scenery, majestic mountains and beautiful beaches, and weather second to none. Which leads me to this...Living in a place and visiting are two different things.
 
I know cali like the back of my hand, and yes they could benefit from ym time and experience living there. Nevertheless, it has absolutely nothing to do with police states or freedoms.

 

Chivo, your beginning to worry me.

You know California like the back of your hand?   Where did you live for 35 years in California?
Your comment that California is a police state is the most ridiculous thing I have seen you post!  Are you smoking something funny?  I have been a Californian for 48 years and have lived in many states prior to settling here.

My Russian neighbor has probably been here more than 30 years and would not trade it for anywhere else in the world.  Get a grip man, something is wrong with your perceptions.  Also, you need to consider the tens of thousands that are standing in line to immigrate to my 'police state'.  Is that also true of Russia?

[chivo]

Read Shin Dong-hyuk's life story if you want to know about a current police state.  I posted it here -

http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=14731.msg299671#msg299671



Mendy may be a Western journalist, but he is one who has lived in Russia as long, perhaps longer, than you have.  I don't think he is saying you are wrong, you just have a different opinion. 


I disagree that there is only one way to see things (which I assume is your way? )  There just isn't.  For example, I disagree with about 80% of what my current government is doing, but 40% of the country disagrees with me.  I am fairly active politically, and have known, and know,  policy makers.  But it is not that I know the right people and they don't, or vice versa.  It is just different perspectives.

If you truly are getting different views, it is not coming across in your posts today.  There is no one "right" perspective or truth, to the exclusion of all others.

Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, if someone tells me there are 70000 riot police at a protest and I can see for myself that it's not true, should I just believe it? It's not about opinion, but facts. facts are facts. You keep trying to steer this in that direction and it's not that way.
 
I agree with some things and not others. Others can agree with me or not. Don't rightly care. I'm here, no one, including Mendy talks to more of the middle class than I do. My views are a concensus of what I see and here, and most of it is consistent with what I post. many of my opinions or statements are just echoing the middle class. And these are the people who are protesting the current government.
 
Take it for what it is worth. It is simply not as bad here as what is being portrayed. Not the politics, not life in general.
 
And take a break already so I can gt to other past posts. Don't worry I'll get back to you .

[calmissile]

Live there and tell me. No, not in your sense, but go live there and see how restricted you are by the police and the authorities. And how few rights you really have should the police decide to act. In this day and age, it shouldn''t be how it is as far as America goes..
 
I can't tell you how it feels to be there when I visit. Sure I have a good time because I have a good time no matter where I am. But, the police are way out of control there.
 
I've dealt with the police there on many an occasion, and sorry to disagree, but I couldn't disagree more.

Perhaps this explains your attitude toward California.  Most law abiding citizens rarely have contact with the police unless it is a traffic accident or victim of a burglary, etc.  If your run-ins with the police were of the criminal nature, please understand that they are doing their job to protect the rest of us from the criminals.

[chivo]

Chivo, your beginning to worry me.

You know California like the back of your hand?   Where did you live for 35 years in California?
Your comment that California is a police state is the most ridiculous thing I have seen you post!  Are you smoking something funny?  I have been a Californian for 48 years and have lived in many states prior to settling here.

My Russian neighbor has probably been here more than 30 years and would not trade it for anywhere else in the world.  Get a grip man, something is wrong with your perceptions.  Also, you need to consider the tens of thousands that are standing in line to immigrate to my 'police state'.  Is that also true of Russia?

Cal, first of all, you no very little if anything about Russia, this is obvious.
 
Nothing is wrong with my perceptions. I live in LA for 35 years (West Covina and Newport Beach). I'm glad you like where you live. I like where I live and choose to live in Moscow instead of LA. Other than the weather, I miss nothing about it and have no desire to move back. And yes, I feel much freer here than in LA, not smoking anything.
 
And to answer your final question, yes, millions of people are getting in line to move here, matter of fact. Go hang out at metro Komsomolskaya and watch the legions of people moving here everyday. Get a grip, ya say? How about you get a clue.
 
 

[chivo]

Perhaps this explains your attitude toward California.  Most law abiding citizens rarely have contact with the police unless it is a traffic accident or victim of a burglary, etc.  If your run-ins with the police were of the criminal nature, please understand that they are doing their job to protect the rest of us from the criminals.

 
Ok enough for a while. I have things to do. Everyone, take your best shot, but please, please...make sense. And don't just see things from your persective, try to think of things from a Russian perspective, at least as much as is possible.
 
I've made reference to some of Putin's accomplishments. Any comments, anyone? or are you just in your babuska mood and just want to attack me?

[mendeleyev]

I have often said much of my information is from people whom I respect very much on their insight and experience.

Don't recall having disputed that. In fact, that makes two of us.

There are things for which I respect your views as well.

Of course the photo is real. But the context and how you presented it was  much more dramatic than the reality of the situation (at least to any - average Russian who was there and not a journalist).

Were you there?

Did you see the reaction of bystanders? Did you listen to the reaction of bystanders?

Did you see the reaction of the troops?

Did you watch the reaction of commanders who stood to the side and contemplated what to do about the boy?

Unless you were there, you're only exercising an opinion from a distance.

You don't know my life here. You and this board has absolutely no idea whom I've met. I'm positive you would be surprised, and impressed. Some are very well connected, trust me on this. And they would agree with you, as I do, on many things. By the same token, they would disagree with some things as well.

Doubt I'd be surprised, but impressed of course.

I myself had to inform you on where the first Mcdonalds was opened in Russia and when terminal C at Sheremetyevo officially opened. Surely someone who flies here so often would have known this. And anyone can find info on Mcdonalds.

There is a difference in correcting and informing. I have eaten many times at the locations we mentioned as I'm sure you have too, but do appreciate your correction. You're not the only member to correct me, btw, and I'm guessing that you won't be the last.

But, if someone tells me there are 70000 riot police at a protest and I can see for myself that it's not true, should I just believe it? It's not about opinion, but facts. facts are facts. You keep trying to steer this in that direction and it's not that way.

Again, for the hard of hearing, that was an Interior Ministry number, which by the way I adjusted in my coverage and credited the government for pulling back reserves. Chivo, reporting is fluid and many times something ends far differently than it began, case in point. I reported the change.


 

I agree with some things and not others. Others can agree with me or not. Don't rightly care. I'm here, no one, including Mendy talks to more of the middle class than I do.

You may be right, you may be wrong. Fairly bold statement but okay. I'll let you in on a little secret learned from a mentor who held my job during many of the Soviet years. If you want to know where a country is going, hang around the top. But if you want to know how that journey is going, hang around the average level of society where changes are felt first and the most. You make a mistake in thinking that I don't rub shoulders with the middle class. More than you could imagine.

many of my opinions or statements are just echoing the middle class. And these are the people who are protesting the current government.

Chivo, I thought you to believe that no one was protesting or that reports of the protests were over rated?

Things that if you were here for any extended time couldn't possibly see any other way.

Good Lord man, obviously you've never interviewed bystanders at the scene of some traumatic event. 

[mendeleyev]

So, based on what you wrote in that earlier thread and posted again, here are some questions:

Russia needs to realize its vast agricultural potential to the world, especially Africa. Invest in its infrastructure, diversify its economy (which I think it's beginning to understand and do), decrease the time it takes and lower the restrictions for new small business start-ups. Invest much more in medicine, education and technology and legalize its corruption like America has.

Speaking of McDonald's, a western company (McDonald's of Canada) helped Russia back on it's ag feet. You knew this, McDonald's no longer makes every item from scratch out at their old "McComplex" and everything from tomatoes to pickles to buns and potatoes are now produced by Russian companies on Russian soil.

So, why Africa?


In the 1990's Russians were starving and the USA upon the orders of President George HW Bush, Sr. flooded Russia with chicken, mainly thighs and some legs. They became known as “Bush legs” to Russian housewives.

Three times, 2002 - 2008 - 2010, Russia cut off imports of chicken from all US producers. In 2002 and 2010 because of additives and growth hormones. The 2008 ban was for the USA supporting Georgia. (I happen to applaud the bans over additives and hormones.)

Today the 2010 ban continues while Russian chicken consumption is on the rise and so is domestic production. However imports of poultry continues upwards, now over 60% of the volume imported in Q1 of 2011. The federal statistical service say that the increase of chicken meat imports is due to the increase in consumption of chicken at the expense of pork.

What do you hear?

When will Russia become independent on such a basic item of production?


In 1990 a small British firm with a successful baked potato model in the UK came to Russia and ran into several issues, an unwanted partner in the form of a "roof" being the financial straw that broke the camel's back. Even prior to that however was the difficulty in obtaining potatoes of consistent quality and size.  A few years later Kroshka-Kartoshka came on the scene and has solved the size and quality concern with a network of potato farms across European Russia.

Since you seem to have an interest in agriculture, the top 3 potato producers in the world are China, Russia, and India. Yet in spite of having much larger populations, China and India export potatoes but Russia, even as the world's second largest producer, still imports about 25% of its annual potato needs. BTW, consumption is also led in that order worldwide: China-Russia-India. Africans and Latin Americans eat the fewest potatoes in the world.

Currently there is a ban on potato imports from Egypt, mainly for political reasons despite official pronouncements, meaning more imports from other sources. Is there something wrong with Russia's farming system that she still must import a product while also being 2nd in world production?

What do your sources say should be done to bring Russia to "potato independence."

Surprisingly (at least to me), Coca-Cola is the 2nd most used/sold product in Kroskha-Kartoshka stores after potatoes. Coke is bottled by Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia in the Rostov area. Given the ban on unhealthy chickens, in your opinion have Russians developed sufficient caffeine addictions to Coca-Cola (and the thousands of jobs created) or will the government begin to pressure companies to drop Coke and carry Russian branded sodas which aside from KVAS have flopped?

Finally, Russia is ascending to the WTO and one of the requirements is to curtain ag subsidies. Current RF subsidies to agricultural enterprises are near $9 billion annually but must be cut to $4.5 by 2017. Long term that will help farming as they'll be forced to modernize (the USA should do the same) but what will be the shorter and mid-term implications, especially if the price of oil remains where it is or if it drops?

[LiveFromUkraine]

Perhaps this explains your attitude toward California.  Most law abiding citizens rarely have contact with the police unless it is a traffic accident or victim of a burglary, etc.  If your run-ins with the police were of the criminal nature, please understand that they are doing their job to protect the rest of us from the criminals.

Pretty sad you need to be protected from criminals like this.

http://news.sky.com/story/925707/california-to-hurl-fines-at-frisbee-throwers

[Misha]

Is there something wrong with Russia's farming system that she still must import a product while also being 2nd in world production?

I visited some small farms in northern Russia earlier this month. Much of the land is reverting to forest as villages are being abandoned and even those who try to stay can't sell the potatoes they grow. A friend was telling me they had a good year and they had an extra fifty bags of potatoes. However, there was not way to market it. One family, an Azeri family was doing a good job of growing potatoes and had managed to develop an export market. However, they were deported and their efforts were for naught. So, the problem boils down to this IMHO, the people who can grow the potatoes, have no means of sending them to others in Russia who might be willing to buy them and the costs of transportation means that it often easier to import potatoes from elsewhere than buy Russian grown potatoes. I won't even get into a discussion on the effects of corruption and red tape. Overall, little has really changed in the last 7 years in the Russian countryside: the same unpaved roads are still unpaved in villages and the infrastructure is still lacking to successfully grown and export anything, including potatoes.

[Faux Pas]

shocker.
 
Another know all about Russia wannabe. Tell me you PMS'ing again. I mean it is that time of the month.

How so original and expected of you chivo. Is that the best you've got? I've never pretended to be a know it all about Russia like you pretend to 

[erikmagenta]

That is a slap in the face of anyone who has actually lived in a police state.  The state of California does not tell you what you can write, what you can read, what you can say, where you want to live (beyond zoning restrictions), where you can go to school, whether or not you can leave the state, etc.

+1.  It's just an ignorant statement really.  Ask anyone who had to live in Nazi Germany what a police state really is, or anyone who had to live in FSU during the Stalinist purges.  Anyone in many other eastern bloc countries before the fall of communism.

I lived in California for about 16 years.  It is definitely not a police state.  Sometimes a persons frame of mind, and where they really want to be, affects their perceptions.  Chivo you clearly prefer Russia; nothing wrong with that, but let's not make outrageous statements about places you don't like as much.